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Women in Politics

Uploaded by jimih4evr on Oct 31, 2011

This essay examines the issue of women in politics and discusses how women entered the political arena, how they got where they are; how they might rise higher; and how they’re doing. It discusses the State of Michigan in some detail.

I Introduction

The stated subject of this paper is the “revolution” of women in politics. The word makes it sound as though women’s entry into the political arena is both recent and sudden, but the fact is that women have been involved in politics since the Greeks, and probably before. What has changed is the number of women who are now professional politicians, and the fact that their opinions are respected, even sought after. Still, it has been a long and difficult struggle for women to gain acceptance in this area, which still remains male-dominated. Interestingly, though I cannot now remember where I read it so I cannot give a citation, an article I saw within the last year stated that voters in general trust female candidates more than their male counterparts. Whether this is because women are still often seen first and foremost as mothers/caregivers, and thus touch voters deeply in a way men do not, or whether the scandals tainting politics and corporate entities center on men, giving the impression that women are more honest, is impossible to say. (It may be that women are equally corrupt but don’t rise as high as men do generally, and so are not the ones named in the lawsuits.) The “revolution,” then, if there is one, is in the number of women in politics, and the fact that they are serving in high offices, some at the Cabinet level. It remains doubtful if America, which is both a racist and sexist country, will ever elect a woman as President, but it could conceivably happen, though probably not at any time in the near future.This paper will look at the changes in the field of politics as regards women. We’ll discuss the history of women in politics; the increasing numbers of women in the field and how they have entered it; and what is happening currently. It will also discuss what women might do to enable them to rise even higher than they have thus far. Finally, we’ll concentrate on the State of Michigan and women in government there.